DURHAM, N.C. – The fifth-ranked Ohio State field hockey team fell to No.4 Duke, 3-0, in the second round of the NCAA tournament Sunday in Durham, N.C. The Buckeyes conclude one of the best seasons ever with a 15-4 record, for their third-best winning percentage in the 31-year program history at .789. The game was Ohio State’s first appearance in the second round of the NCAA tournament. With the win, the Blue Devils (16-5) advance to the semifinals of the 2006 NCAA Championship.

Ohio State has concluded the last two seasons with 15 wins, tying the record for second-most in program history. This season, the Buckeyes also won its first outright Big Ten regular-season championship and the second overall conference title.

“We had some early opportunities that we did not capitalize on,” Anne Wilkinson, Ohio State head coach, said. “When we allowed errors, Duke gained a shift in momentum which resulted in a let-down. Our seniors put a tremendous effort out there and they put themselves on the line. When you go all out, it makes you vulnerable – but I prefer that we took the risks then not.”

Ohio State totaled 10 shots to Duke’s 13, but only had two shots on goal with Blue Devils goalkeeper Caitlin Williams stopping both. Junior Yesenia Luces (Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago/St. Joseph’s Convent) led OSU with four shots. The Buckeyes finished with a 5-4 edge in penalty corners.

Duke opened its scoring at 22:21 with a goal that came left of the cage by Ashley Pultorak, who knocked in a pass from Elizabeth Floyd for a 1-0 lead.

The Blue Devils upped their lead to 2-0 with a goal just before halftime at 32:26. Lauren Miller shot the ball in from the top of the circle to Marian Dickinson who fired it in the OSU cage. Duke held its two-goal lead into the intermission with a 6-2 margin in shots.

Duke scored early in the second half at 45:44 to increase the score to 3-0. Cara-Lynn Lopresti dribbled over the stick of a Buckeye defender and fired a shot into the back of the cage.

At 58:20, senior back Jessica Gofgosky (Marathon, N.Y./Marathon Central) made a defensive save when she deflected a shot fired by Duke’s Amy Stopford from the top of the circle toward an open OSU net. Gofgosky finished the season with three defensive saves.

Ohio State had one last scoring opportunity with back-to-back penalty corners in the final seconds of the match, but shots by seniors Saskia Mueller (Zuerich, Switzerland/Gymnasium Unterstrass) and Lauren Kruse (Toledo, Ohio/Ottawa Hills) went wide of the goal as time ran out.

Freshman goalkeeper Lindsay Quintiliani (Mountain Top, Pa./Crestwood) made three saves in the game and finished her rookie campaign with a 15-4 record and 1.48 goals-against-average.